Financial Secretary Henry Tang said yesterday that the mainland's economy would create ample room for Hong Kong financial services industry to develop in the years ahead.

And mainland and Hong Kong financial systems have to work closer to build a complementary, co-operative and interactive relationship, he said in his budget speech.

For instance, Hong Kong could use its advantages in financial talents to help mainland enterprises expand overseas.

"We have an advanced financial infrastructure, regulatory regime up to international standards, deep and liquid internationalized financial market, which enable us to contribute to raising the efficiency of financial intermediation on the mainland and facilitate reform of the mainland's financial system," he said.

He indicated the two systems are interactive - Hong Kong serves as the main window for mainland enterprises raising capital and reaching out to the international market. In return, the influx of Hong Kong's financial institutions into the mainland would help upgrade corporate governance standard of mainland enterprises.

Tang also stated that Hong Kong acts as a testing ground for the use of renminbi in international trade and financial transactions.

"The government explores further ways to develop derivatives markets, including financial and commodity futures to meet the growing demand of risk management on the mainland," said Tang.

He expected mainland financial institutions would be well-prepared to issue yuan-denominated bond in Hong Kong in the first half of the year.

Tang said the government would introduce a bill in the Legislative Council in the current legislative session to give statutory backing to major listing requirements. Financial Reporting Council would be established to upgrade the regulation of the accounting profession and listed company's financial reports.

"We have embarked on an exercise to amend the Companies Ordinance to ensure that our company law continues to serve Hong Kong's developing needs as a major international business and financial center," he said.

Tang also proposed to set a guaranteed minimum return on the Exchange Fund's investment. Also, the return of fiscal reserves will be calculated on the basis of the average return of the fund over the past six years, which is 7 percent.